BANGKOK—A large explosion has rocked a central Bangkok intersection during the evening rush hour, killing at least one person and injuring several others.
According to BBC, 12 people have been killed in the explosion.
The cause of Monday's explosion, which sounded like a loud thunderclap to people living nearby, was not immediately known.
An Associated Press reporter at the scene said he saw one body and body parts, and two people taken into ambulances.
The explosion took place at the Rajprasong intersection, which was the center of many contentious political demonstrations in recent years. It appeared to have occurred in front of the Erawan Shrine, a tourist landmark also popular with Thais.
"I can confirm it was a bomb, we can't tell which kind yet, we are checking," national police spokesman Lietenant General Prawut Thavornsiri told AFP.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Thai forces are fighting a low-level Muslim insurgency in the predominantly Buddhist country's south, although those rebels have rarely launched attacks outside their ethnic Malay heartland, reports Reuters.
The country has also been riven for a decade by intense and sometimes violent rivalry between political factions in Bangkok and elsewhere.
The army has ruled Thailand since May 2014, when it ousted an elected government after months of, at times, violent anti-government protests.
The Erawan shrine, on a busy corner near top hotels, shopping centers and offices, is a major tourist attraction, especially for visitors from East Asia. Many ordinary Thais also worship there.
With inputs from Agencies
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According to BBC, 12 people have been killed in the explosion.
The cause of Monday's explosion, which sounded like a loud thunderclap to people living nearby, was not immediately known.
An Associated Press reporter at the scene said he saw one body and body parts, and two people taken into ambulances.
First footage of the bomb blast in Bangkok that's killed at least 12 and injured 20 others pic.twitter.com/rl7pt8CBx0
— Tom Steinfort (@tomsteinfort) August 17, 2015Scores dead & laying injured in #Bangkok blast & this picture sums up the modern world we live in when disaster hits pic.twitter.com/C1NytZ9yP5
— Liam Calland (@yorkshireguy) August 17, 201519.00 น.ด่วน!!! มีเสียงดังคล้ายระเบิดที่บริเวณแยกราชประสงค์ เบื้องต้นมีผู้บาดเจ็บประมาณ 20 คน @newsthaich8 pic.twitter.com/WsAg0LzhkY
— tareporterch8 (@Ch8_taphikrit) August 17, 2015The explosion took place at the Rajprasong intersection, which was the center of many contentious political demonstrations in recent years. It appeared to have occurred in front of the Erawan Shrine, a tourist landmark also popular with Thais.
"I can confirm it was a bomb, we can't tell which kind yet, we are checking," national police spokesman Lietenant General Prawut Thavornsiri told AFP.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Thai forces are fighting a low-level Muslim insurgency in the predominantly Buddhist country's south, although those rebels have rarely launched attacks outside their ethnic Malay heartland, reports Reuters.
The country has also been riven for a decade by intense and sometimes violent rivalry between political factions in Bangkok and elsewhere.
The army has ruled Thailand since May 2014, when it ousted an elected government after months of, at times, violent anti-government protests.
The Erawan shrine, on a busy corner near top hotels, shopping centers and offices, is a major tourist attraction, especially for visitors from East Asia. Many ordinary Thais also worship there.
With inputs from Agencies
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